“You were ready to beat me up when I came here to ask you certain questions.”
“I was. Any fellow would be. You would.”
“Perhaps. But suppose, through the work of some other reporter, a divorce story involving the sister and brother-in-law of some chap in your set had appeared in the papers.”
“No concern of mine.”
“But you’d read it, wouldn’t you?”
“Probably.”
“And if your paper didn’t have it in and another paper did, you’d buy the other paper to find out about it.”
“If I was interested in the people, I might.”
“Then what kind of a sport are you, when you’re keen to read about other people’s scandals, but sore on any one who inquires about yours?”
“That’s the other fellow’s bad luck. If he—”